At weast as far back as Thomas Aqwinas, Christian dought has recognized two sources of knowwedge of God: revewation and "naturaw reason". The study of de truds reveawed by reason is cawwed naturaw deowogy. During de Age of Enwightenment, especiawwy in Britain and France, phiwosophers began to reject revewation as a source of knowwedge and to appeaw onwy to truds dat dey fewt couwd be estabwished by reason awone. Such phiwosophers were cawwed "deists" and de phiwosophicaw position dat dey advocated is cawwed "deism".

Deism as a distinct intewwectuaw movement decwined toward de end of de 18f century. Some of its tenets continued to wive on as part of oder intewwectuaw movements (e.g. Unitarianism) and it continues to have some advocates today.

The words deism and deism are bof derived from words meaning "god": Latin deus and Greek deos (θεός). The word déiste first appears in French in 1564 in a work by a Swiss Cawvinist named Pierre Viret[6] but was generawwy unknown in France untiw de 1690s when Pierre Baywe pubwished his famous Dictionary, which contained an articwe on Viret.[7]

In Engwish de words "deist" and "deist" were originawwy synonymous, but by de 17f century de terms started to diverge in meaning.[8] The term deist wif its current meaning first appears in Engwish in Robert Burton's The Anatomy of Mewanchowy (1621).

At weast since Thomas Aqwinas, Christian dought had recognized two vawid sources of rewigious knowwedge: divine revewation and naturaw reason ("naturaw deowogy"). During de Enwightenment, some dinkers continued to accept reason, awong wif features of de naturaw worwd, as a vawid source of rewigious knowwedge, but dey rejected de vawidity of revewation, uh-hah-hah-hah. These dinkers were de "deists" and de word "deism" refers to deir cowwective attack on de idea of divine revewation, uh-hah-hah-hah.

In effect, deist audors carried out an intewwectuaw war against de idea of revewation, uh-hah-hah-hah. It was a gueriwwa war in de sense dat deist audors operated independentwy and each audor carried out his attacks in his own uniqwe way. Some deist audors attacked wif cawm wogic, whiwe oders furiouswy attacked wif moraw indignation; some appeawed to de facts of history whiwe oders wiewded pointed humor and sarcasm. These audors exhibited a simiwarwy wide variety of opinions when it came to matters of naturaw deowogy. Some bewieved in de immortawity of de souw, posdumous punishment for de wicked, and posdumous rewards for de virtuous; oders did not; some were undecided. After Newton pubwished his discoveries, some regarded God as a watch-maker; a distant Creator and First Mover who wound up de universe, set it in motion, and den stepped away; it was pointwess to pray to such a God who surewy wasn't wistening. Oders fewt a cwoser connection to God and bewieved dat God heard and responded to deir prayers. Those who bewieved in a watch-maker God rejected de possibiwity of miracwes— after having estabwished naturaw waws and set de great cosmos in motion, God didn't need to keep tinkering wif his creation, uh-hah-hah-hah. Oders accepted de possibiwity of miracwes; God after aww was aww-powerfuw and couwd do anyding at aww, incwuding temporariwy bypassing his own naturaw waws.

The deists were awso animated by a variety of different motives (which at weast partiawwy expwains de diversity of deir concerns and concwusions). This was de age of de Scientific Revowution; some were animated by a new-found respect for science ("naturaw phiwosophy") accompanied by a repugnance for superstition, irrationawity, and nonsense. Some were saddened and repuwsed by de savage rewigious wars dat had been ravaging Europe for decades; deir goaw was to find a way to stop de fighting. Oders were pushing back against de crushing powiticaw power possessed by de organized Churches in deir respective countries, churches dat forbade dem from dinking freewy, censored dem if dey tried to pubwish deir doughts, and (if dey couwd be caught) punished dem when dey succeeded in pubwishing.

Detaiws of de deist war on revewation can be found in de articwe on Deism in Engwand and France in de 18f century. Here we wiww wook at onwy a few representative deists, in order to show how dey iwwustrate de many personaw facets of deism.

The first major statement of deism in Engwish is Lord Herbert of Cherbury's book De Veritate (1624).[9] Herbert, wike his contemporary Descartes, searched for de foundations of knowwedge. The first two-dirds of his book De Veritate (On Truf, as It Is Distinguished from Revewation, de Probabwe, de Possibwe, and de Fawse) are devoted to an exposition of Herbert's deory of knowwedge. Herbert distinguished truds obtained drough experience and reasoning about experience, from innate truds and from reveawed truds. Innate truds are imprinted on our minds, and de evidence dat dey are so imprinted is dat dey are universawwy accepted. Herbert's term for universawwy accepted truds was notitiae communes – Common Notions. When it came to rewigion, Herbert bewieved dat dere were five Common Notions.

The appearance of John Locke's Essay Concerning Human Understanding (1690) marks an important turning point, and a new phase, in de history of Engwish deism.
Herbert's epistemowogy was based on de idea of "common notions", in effect, on innate ideas. Locke's famous attack on innate ideas in de Essay effectivewy destroyed dat foundation, uh-hah-hah-hah. After Locke, deists couwd no wonger appeaw to innate ideas as Herbert had done. Instead, deists were forced to turn to arguments based on experience and nature. Under de infwuence of Newton dey turned to de argument from design as de principaw argument for de existence of God.[11]

Especiawwy notewordy is Matdew Tindaw's Christianity as Owd as de Creation (1730), which "became, very soon after its pubwication, de focaw center of de deist controversy. Because awmost every argument, qwotation, and issue raised for decades can be found here, de work is often termed 'de deist's Bibwe'."[15] Fowwowing Locke's successfuw attack on innate ideas, Tindaw's 'Bibwe' redefined de foundation of deist epistemowogy as knowwedge based on experience or human reason, uh-hah-hah-hah. This effectivewy widened de gap between traditionaw Christians and what he cawwed "Christian Deists", since dis new foundation reqwired dat "reveawed" truf be vawidated drough human reason, uh-hah-hah-hah.

Enwightenment deism consisted of two phiwosophicaw assertions: (a) reason, awong wif features of de naturaw worwd, is a vawid source of rewigious knowwedge, and (b) revewation is not a vawid source of rewigious knowwedge. Different deist audors expanded on dese two assertions to create what Leswie Stephen water termed de "constructive" and "criticaw" aspects of deism.[16][17] "Constructive" assertions— assertions dat deist writers fewt were justified by appeaws to reason and features of de naturaw worwd (or perhaps were intuitivewy obvious) — incwuded:[18][19]

God exists and created de universe.

God gave humans de abiwity to reason, uh-hah-hah-hah.

"Criticaw" assertions— assertions dat fowwowed from de deniaw of revewation as a vawid source of rewigious knowwedge— were much more numerous. They incwuded:

A centraw premise of deism was dat de rewigions of deir day were corruptions of an originaw rewigion dat was pure, naturaw, simpwe, and rationaw. Humanity wost dis originaw rewigion when it was subseqwentwy corrupted by "priests" who manipuwating it for personaw gain and for de cwass interests of de priesdood in generaw,[21] and dus encrusted wif superstitions and "mysteries" – irrationaw deowogicaw doctrines. They referred to dis manipuwation of rewigious doctrine as "priestcraft," an intensewy derogatory term.[22]

They decwared dat waymen were dus kept dependent on de priesdood for information about de reqwirements for sawvation, and baffwed by dese "mysteries" – giving de priesdood a position of great power, which dey worked to maintain and increase. Deists saw it as deir mission to strip away "priestcraft" and "mysteries". Tindaw, perhaps de most prominent deist writer, cwaimed dat dis was de proper originaw rowe of de Christian Church.[23]

One impwication of dis premise was dat current-day primitive societies, or societies dat existed in de distant past, shouwd have rewigious bewiefs wess encrusted wif superstitions and cwoser to dose of naturaw deowogy. (This position became wess and wess pwausibwe as dinkers such as David Hume began studying de naturaw history of rewigion and suggested dat de origins of rewigion way not in reason but in de emotions, specificawwy fear of de unknown, uh-hah-hah-hah.)

Different deists had different bewiefs about de immortawity of de souw, about de existence of Heww and damnation to punish de wicked, and de existence of Heaven to reward de virtuous. Andony Cowwins,[24]Bowingbroke, Thomas Chubb, and Peter Annet were materiawists and eider denied or doubted de immortawity of de souw.[25]Benjamin Frankwin bewieved in reincarnation or resurrection, uh-hah-hah-hah. Lord Herbert of Cherbury and Wiwwiam Wowwaston,[26] hewd dat souws exist, survive deaf, and in de afterwife are rewarded or punished by God for deir behavior in wife. Thomas Paine bewieved in de "probabiwity" of immortawity of de souw.[27]

Infwuenced by Newton's cosmowogy, many deists regarded God as a distant Creator who wound up de universe, set it in motion, and den stepped away. These deists naturawwy considered it to be pointwess to pray to or worship a God who surewy wasn't wistening. Oders, however, fewt a cwoser connection to God and bewieved dat God heard and responded to deir prayers.

The most naturaw position for deists was to reject aww forms of supernaturawism, incwuding de miracwe stories in de Bibwe. The probwem was dat de rejection of miracwes awso seemed to entaiw de rejection of divine providence (of God taking a hand in human affairs), someding dat many deists were incwined to accept.[28] Those who bewieved in a watch-maker God rejected de possibiwity of miracwes and divine providence. They bewieved dat God, after estabwishing naturaw waws and setting de cosmos in motion, stepped away. He didn't need to keep tinkering wif his creation, and de suggestion dat he did was insuwting.[29] Oders, however, firmwy bewieved in divine providence and so were rewuctantwy forced to accept at weast de possibiwity of miracwe. God was, after aww, aww-powerfuw, and He couwd do whatever he wanted, incwuding temporariwy suspending his own naturaw waws.

Enwightenment dinkers, under de infwuence of Newtonian science, tended to view de universe as a vast machine, created and set in motion by a creator being, dat continues to operate according to naturaw waw, widout any divine intervention, uh-hah-hah-hah. This view naturawwy wed to what was den cawwed necessitarianism[30] (de modern term is determinism): de view dat everyding in de universe – incwuding human behavior – is compwetewy causawwy determined by antecedent circumstances and naturaw waw. (See, for exampwe, La Mettrie's L'Homme machine.) As a conseqwence, debates about freedom versus "necessity" were a reguwar feature of Enwightenment rewigious and phiwosophicaw discussions. Refwecting de intewwectuaw cwimate of de time, dere were differences among deists about freedom and determinism. Some, such as Andony Cowwins, actuawwy were necessitarians.[31]

Views differ on wheder David Hume was a deist, an adeist, or someding ewse.[32] Like de deists, he had no truck wif revewation, and his famous essay "On Miracwes" provided a powerfuw argument against bewief in miracwes. On de oder hand, he had no truck wif de idea dat an appeaw to Reason couwd provide any justification for rewigion, uh-hah-hah-hah. In Naturaw History of Rewigion (1757) he contends dat powydeism, not monodeism, was "de first and most ancient rewigion of mankind" and dat de psychowogicaw basis of rewigion is not reason, but fear of de unknown, uh-hah-hah-hah.[33] Hume's account of ignorance and fear as de motivations for primitive rewigious bewief was a severe bwow to de deist's rosy picture of prewapsarian humanity basking in priestcraft-free innocence. In Waring's words

The cwear reasonabweness of naturaw rewigion disappeared before a semi-historicaw wook at what can be known about unciviwized man— "a barbarous, necessitous animaw," as Hume termed him. Naturaw rewigion, if by dat term one means de actuaw rewigious bewiefs and practices of unciviwized peopwes, was seen to be a fabric of superstitions. Primitive man was no unspoiwed phiwosopher, cwearwy seeing de truf of one God. And de history of rewigion was not, as de deists had impwied, retrograde; de widespread phenomenon of superstition was caused wess by priestwy mawice dan by man's unreason as he confronted his experience.[34]

In de United States, where de Cuwture Wars stiww rage, dere is a great deaw of controversy over wheder de Founding Faders were Christians, deists, or someding in between, uh-hah-hah-hah.[36][37] Particuwarwy heated is de debate over de bewiefs of Benjamin Frankwin, Thomas Jefferson, and George Washington.[38][39][40]

In his "Autobiography" Frankwin wrote dat as a young man "Some books against Deism feww into my hands; dey were said to be de substance of sermons preached at Boywe's wectures. It happened dat dey wrought an effect on me qwite contrary to what was intended by dem; for de arguments of de Deists, which were qwoted to be refuted, appeared to me much stronger dan de refutations; in short, I soon became a dorough Deist."[41][42] Like some oder deists, Frankwin bewieved dat, "The Deity sometimes interferes by his particuwar Providence, and sets aside de Events which wouwd oderwise have been produc'd in de Course of Nature, or by de Free Agency of Man,"[43] and stated at de Constitutionaw Convention dat "de wonger I wive, de more convincing proofs I see of dis truf— dat God governs in de affairs of men, uh-hah-hah-hah."[44]

Thomas Jefferson is perhaps de Founding Fader who most cwearwy exhibits deist tendencies, awdough he generawwy referred to himsewf as a Unitarian rader dan a deist. His excerpts of de Bibwicaw gospews, for exampwe, now commonwy known as de Jefferson Bibwe, strips away aww supernaturaw and dogmatic references from de Christ story. Like Frankwin, Jefferson bewieved in God's continuing activity in human affairs. [45]

Thomas Paine is especiawwy notewordy bof for his contributions to de cause of de American revowution and to de cause of deism. His The Age of Reason (Parts I and II in 1794 and 1795) was short, readabwe, and is probabwy de onwy deist tract dat continues to be read, and to be infwuentiaw, today.[46]

The wast contributor to American deism was Ewihu Pawmer (1764–1806), who wrote de "Bibwe of American deism", Principwes of Nature, in 1801. Pawmer is notewordy for attempting to bring some organization to deism by founding de "Deisticaw Society of New York" and oder deistic societies from Maine to Georgia.[47]

France had its own tradition of rewigious skepticism and naturaw deowogy in de works of Montaigne, Baywe, and Montesqwieu. The most famous of de French deists was Vowtaire, who was exposed to Newtonian science and Engwish deism during his two-year period of exiwe in Engwand (1726-8). When he returned to France he brought bof back wif him, and exposed de French reading pubwic (i.e. de aristocracy) to dem in a number of books.

French deists awso incwuded Maximiwien Robespierre and Rousseau. During de French Revowution de deistic Cuwt of de Supreme Being, a direct expression of Robespierre's deowogicaw views, was estabwished briefwy - just under dree monds - as de new state rewigion of France, repwacing de deposed Cadowic Church and rivaw adeistic Cuwt of Reason.

Deism in Germany is not weww documented. We know from his correspondence wif Vowtaire dat Frederick de Great was a deist. Immanuew Kant's identification wif deism is controversiaw.[48]

de writings of David Hume and Immanuew Kant raised qwestions about de abiwity of reason to address metaphysicaw qwestions.

de viowence of de openwy-deistic French Revowution

Christian revivawist movements, such as Pietism and Medodism, which emphasized a personaw rewationship wif God, awong wif de rise of anti-rationawist and counter-Engwightenment phiwosophies such as dat of Johann Georg Hamann[50]

It is correct to say dat deism decwined, in de sense dat use of de word "deism" decwined. But it wouwd be incorrect, or at weast misweading, to say dat deism died— deist ideas and infwuences wived on, uh-hah-hah-hah. One of de major activities of de deists, bibwicaw criticism, evowved into its own highwy technicaw discipwine. Deist rejection of reveawed rewigion evowved into, and contributed to, 19f-century wiberaw British deowogy and de rise of Unitarianism.[50]

Contemporary deism attempts to integrate cwassicaw deism wif modern phiwosophy and de current state of scientific knowwedge. This attempt has produced a wide variety of personaw bewiefs under de broad cwassification of bewief of "deism."

There are a number of subcategories of modern deism, incwuding monodeism (dis being de defauwt standard concept of deism), pandeism, spirituaw deism, process deism, Christian deism, powydeism, scientific deism, and humanistic deism.[51][52][53] Some deists see design in nature and purpose in de universe and in deir wives. Oders see God and de universe in a co-creative process. Some deists view God in cwassicaw terms and see God as observing humanity but not directwy intervening in our wives, whiwe oders see God as a subtwe and persuasive spirit who created de worwd and den stepped back to observe. Most contemporary deists do not bewieve in divine intervention, but some[who?] stiww find vawue in prayer as a form of meditation, sewf-cweansing, and spirituaw renewaw.

Charwes Taywor, in his 2007 book A Secuwar Age, showed de historicaw rowe of deism, weading to what he cawws an excwusive humanism. This humanism invokes a moraw order, whose ontic commitment is whowwy intra-human, wif no reference to transcendence.[55] One of de speciaw achievements of such deism-based humanism is dat it discwoses new, andropocentric moraw sources by which human beings are motivated and empowered to accompwish acts of mutuaw benefit.[56] This is de province of a buffered, disengaged sewf, which is de wocus of dignity, freedom and discipwine, and is endowed wif a sense of human capabiwity.[57] According to Taywor, by de earwy 19f century dis deism-mediated excwusive humanism devewoped as an awternative to Christian faif in a personaw God and an order of miracwes and mystery. Some critics of deism have accused adherents of faciwitating de rise of nihiwism.[58]

The 2001 American Rewigious Identification Survey (ARIS) survey estimated dat between 1990 and 2001 de number of sewf-identifying deists grew from 6,000 to 49,000, representing about 0.02% of de US popuwation at de time.[59] The 2008 ARIS survey found, based on deir stated bewiefs rader dan deir rewigious identification, dat 70% of Americans bewieve in a personaw God, roughwy 12% are adeist or agnostic, and 12% bewieve in "a deist or paganistic concept of de Divine as a higher power" rader dan a personaw God.[60]

The term "ceremoniaw deism" was coined in 1962 and has been used since 1984 by de Supreme Court of de United States to assess exemptions from de Estabwishment Cwause of de First Amendment to de U.S. Constitution, dought to be expressions of cuwturaw tradition and not earnest invocations of a deity. It has been noted dat de term does not describe any schoow of dought widin deism itsewf.[61]

In 1993, Bob Johnson created de Worwd Union of Deists (WUD) which offered a mondwy paper pubwication THINK! and two onwine deist pubwications, THINKonwine! and Deistic Thought & Action! In 1996 WUD waunched its web site deism.com. In 1998 de Virginia/Tennessee affiwiate of WUD created de Suwwivan-County.com web site to promote more traditionaw deist views.[62]

The positive deism movement began in 2004. Historicawwy and to de present day, deists have been very criticaw of de reveawed rewigions as weww as trying to be constructive. Positive Deists focus deir efforts sowewy on being constructive and avoid criticism of oder faids. In 2009 Chuck Cwendenen, one of its adherents, pubwished a book entitwed "Deist: so dat's what I am!". The aim of de book was to educate dose who bewieved simiwarwy but were unfamiwiar wif de words "deism" and "deist".[citation needed]

In 2010, de Church of Deism (not affiwiated wif de Worwd Union of Deists) was formed in an effort to extend de wegaw rights and priviweges of more traditionaw rewigions to Deists whiwe maintaining an absence of estabwished dogma and rituaw.[citation needed]

^"Deism". Encycwopædia Britannica. 2012. In generaw, deism refers to what can be cawwed naturaw rewigion, de acceptance of a certain body of rewigious knowwedge dat is inborn in every person or dat can be acqwired by de use of reason and de rejection of rewigious knowwedge when it is acqwired drough eider revewation or de teaching of any church.

^"Deism". Jewish Encycwopedia. 1906. Retrieved 2012-10-10. DEISM: A system of bewief which posits God's existence as de cause of aww dings, and admits its perfection, but rejects Divine revewation and government, procwaiming de aww-sufficiency of naturaw waws.

^Gomes, Awan W. (2011). "Deism". The Encycwopedia of Christian Civiwization, 4 Vowume Set. The Encycwopedia of Christian Civiwization. doi:10.1002/9780470670606.wbecc0408. ISBN9781405157629. Deism is a rationawistic, criticaw approach to deism wif an emphasis on naturaw deowogy. The deists attempted to reduce rewigion to what dey regarded as its most foundationaw, rationawwy justifiabwe ewements. Deism is not, strictwy speaking, de teaching dat God wound up de worwd wike a watch and wet it run on its own, dough dat teaching was embraced by some widin de movement.

^Viret described deism as a hereticaw devewopment of Itawian Renaissance naturawism, resuwting from misuse of de wiberty conferred by de Reformation to criticise idowatry and superstition, uh-hah-hah-hah.Viret, Pierre (1564). Instruction Chrétienne en wa doctrine de wa foi et de w'Évangiwe (Christian teaching on de doctrine of faif and de Gospew).
Viret wrote dat a group of peopwe bewieved, wike de Jews and Turks, in a God of some kind - but regarded de doctrine of de evangewists and de apostwes as a mere myf. Contrary to deir own cwaim, he regarded dem as adeists.

^Orr, John (1934). Engwish Deism: Its Roots and Its Fruits. Eerdmans. The words deism and deism are bof derived words meaning "god" - "THE": Latin ZEUS-deus /"deist" and Greek deos/ "deist" (θεός). The word deus/déiste first appears in French in 1564 in a work by a Swiss Cawvinist named Pierre Viret, but was generawwy unknown in France untiw de 1690s when Pierre Baywe pubwished his famous Dictionary, which contained an articwe on Viret.“Prior to de 17f Century de terms ["deism" and "deist"] were used interchangeabwy wif de terms "deism" and "deist", respectivewy. .. Theowogians and phiwosophers of de 17f Century began to give a different signification to de words. .. Bof [deists and deists] asserted bewief in one supreme God, de Creator. .. But de deist taught dat God remained activewy interested in and operative in de worwd which he had made, whereas de Deist maintained dat God endowed de worwd at creation wif sewf-sustaining and sewf-acting powers and den surrendered it whowwy to de operation of dese powers acting as second causes.” (p.13)

^ Basiw Wiwwey, The Seventeenf Century Background: Studies in de Thought of de Age in Rewation to Poetry and Rewigion, 1934, p.59ff.

^Gay. (see above). "By utiwizing his wide cwassicaw wearning, Bwount demonstrated how to use pagan writers, and pagan ideas, against Christianity. ... Oder Deists were to fowwow his wead." (pp.47-48)

^Note dat Locke himsewf was not a deist. He bewieved in bof miracwes and revewation, uh-hah-hah-hah. See Orr, pp.96-99.

"Aww Deists were in fact bof criticaw and constructive Deists. Aww sought to destroy in order to buiwd, and reasoned eider from de absurdity of Christianity to de need for a new phiwosophy or from deir desire for a new phiwosophy to de absurdity of Christianity. Each deist, to be sure, had his speciaw competence. Whiwe one speciawized in abusing priests, anoder speciawized in rhapsodies to nature, and a dird speciawized in de skepticaw reading of sacred documents. Yet whatever strengf de movement had—and it was at times formidabwe—it derived dat strengf from a pecuwiar combination of criticaw and constructive ewements." (p.13)

^Tindaw: "By naturaw rewigion, I understand de bewief of de existence of a God, and de sense and practice of dose duties which resuwt from de knowwedge we, by our reason, have of him and his perfections; and of oursewves, and our own imperfections, and of de rewationship we stand in to him, and to our fewwow-creatures; so dat de rewigion of nature takes in everyding dat is founded on de reason and nature of dings." Christianity as Owd as de Creation (II), qwoted in Waring (see above), p.113.

^Towand: “I hope to make it appear dat de use of reason is not so dangerous in rewigion as it is commonwy represented .. There is noding dat men make a greater noise about dan de "mysteries of de Christian rewigion". The divines gravewy teww us "we must adore what we cannot comprehend" .. [Some] contend [dat] some mysteries may be, or at weast seem to be, contrary to reason, and yet received by faif. [Oders contend] dat no mystery is contrary to reason, but dat aww are "above" it. On de contrary, we howd dat reason is de onwy foundation of aww certitude .. Wherefore, we wikewise maintain, according to de titwe of dis discourse, dat dere is noding in de Gospew contrary to reason, nor above it; and dat no Christian doctrine can be properwy cawwed a mystery." Christianity Not Mysterious: or, a Treatise Shewing That There Is Noding in de Gospew Contrary to Reason, Nor above It (1696), qwoted in Waring (see above), pp.1–12

^Stephens, Wiwwiam. An Account of de Growf of Deism in Engwand. Retrieved 2019-01-04. (1696 / 1990). Introduction (James E. Force, 1990): "[W]hat sets de Deists apart from even deir most watitudinarian Christian contemporaries is deir desire to way aside scripturaw revewation as rationawwy incomprehensibwe, and dus usewess, or even detrimentaw, to human society and to rewigion, uh-hah-hah-hah. Whiwe dere may possibwy be exceptions, .. most Deists, especiawwy as de eighteenf century wears on, agree dat reveawed Scripture is noding but a joke or "weww-invented fwam." About mid-century, John Lewand, in his historicaw and anawyticaw account of de movement [View of de Principaw Deisticaw Writers[2] (1754–1755)], sqwarewy states dat de rejection of reveawed Scripture is de characteristic ewement of deism, a view furder codified by such audorities as Ephraim Chambers and Samuew Johnson. .. "DEISM," writes Stephens bwuntwy, "is a deniaw of aww reveaw'd Rewigion, uh-hah-hah-hah."”

^Champion, J.A.I. (2014). The Piwwars of Priestcraft Shaken: The Church of Engwand and its Enemies, 1660-1730. Cambridge University Press (Cambridge Studies in Earwy Modern British History). Champion maintains dat historicaw argument was a centraw component of de deists' defences of what dey considered true rewigion, uh-hah-hah-hah.

^Paine, Thomas. The Age of Reason. "As priestcraft was awways de enemy of knowwedge, because priestcraft supports itsewf by keeping peopwe in dewusion and ignorance, it was consistent wif its powicy to make de acqwisition of knowwedge a reaw sin, uh-hah-hah-hah." (Part 2, p.129)

^“It can't be imputed to any defect in de wight of nature dat de pagan worwd ran into idowatry, but to deir being entirewy governed by priests, who pretended communication wif deir gods, and to have dence deir revewations, which dey imposed on de creduwous as divine oracwes. Whereas de business of de Christian dispensation was to destroy aww dose traditionaw revewations, and restore, free from aww idowatry, de true primitive and naturaw rewigion impwanted in mankind from de creation, uh-hah-hah-hah.” Christianity as Owd as de Creation (XIV), qwoted in Waring (see above), p.163.

I bewieve in one God, and no more; and I hope for happiness beyond dis wife.

and (in de Recapituwation)

I troubwe not mysewf about de manner of future existence. I content mysewf wif bewieving, even to positive conviction, dat de power dat gave me existence is abwe to continue it, in any form and manner he pweases, eider wif or widout dis body; and it appears more probabwe to me dat I shaww continue to exist hereafter dan dat I shouwd have had existence, as I now have, before dat existence began, uh-hah-hah-hah.

^David Hartwey, for exampwe, described himsewf as "qwite in de necessitarian scheme. See Ferg, Stephen, "Two Earwy Works of David Hartwey", Journaw of de History of Phiwosophy, vow. 19, no. 2 (Apriw 1981), pp. 173–89.

^Hume, David (1779). The Naturaw History of Rewigion. “The primary rewigion of mankind arises chiefwy from an anxious fear of future events; and what ideas wiww naturawwy be entertained of invisibwe, unknown powers, whiwe men wie under dismaw apprehensions of any kind, may easiwy be conceived. Every image of vengeance, severity, cruewty, and mawice must occur, and must augment de ghastwiness and horror which oppresses de amazed rewigionist. .. And no idea of perverse wickedness can be framed, which dose terrified devotees do not readiwy, widout scrupwe, appwy to deir deity.” (Section XIII)

^In its own time it earned Paine widespread viwification, uh-hah-hah-hah. How widespread deism was among ordinary peopwe in de United States is a matter of continued debate."Cuwture Wars in de Earwy Repubwic". Common-pwace. Archived from de originaw on 2014-03-02.

^Gay. (see above).
“After de writings of Woowston and Tindaw, Engwish deism went into swow decwine. ... By de 1730s, nearwy aww de arguments in behawf of Deism ... had been offered and refined; de intewwectuaw cawiber of weading Deists was none too impressive; and de opponents of deism finawwy mustered some formidabwe spokesmen, uh-hah-hah-hah. The Deists of dese decades, Peter Annet (1693–1769), Thomas Chubb (1679–1747), and Thomas Morgan (?–1743), are of significance to de speciawist awone. ... It had aww been said before, and better. .” (p.140)

^What Is Deism?, Dougwas MacGowan, Moder Nature Network, May 21, 2015: "Over time dere have been oder schoows of dought formed under de umbrewwa of deism incwuding Christian deism, bewief in deistic principwes coupwed wif de moraw teachings of Jesus of Nazaref, and Pandeism, a bewief dat God became de entire universe and no wonger exists as a separate being."

^Essien, Andonia M. "The sociowogicaw impwications of de worwdview of de Annang peopwe: an advocacy for paradigm shift." Journaw of Emerging Trends in Educationaw Research and Powicy Studies 1.1 (2010): 29-35.